I have been curious lately about how to witness, when to witness, etc, because I feel like this is an area that I (and maybe other Christians) could use to grow in. All God's children are different, so I want to know how you personally share your faith? Also, what have you tried that backfired, or didn't work, or maybe seemed to make things worse? Are there any scriptures you know of that can give us wisdom on how to witness better? Basically, I am looking for any and all wisdom and experience about evangelism to be shared here for people who have never done it or perhaps want to do more, but don't know how. Thanks.

The first thing to note is that there is more than one step. There is seed time and harvest time.

The problem with most Christians approach is that they want to harvest during seed time. The problem with that is there is nothing to harvest during seed time. And doing so in many cases will bring offense because the person's heart was not ready.

Another problem is talking to much. An unsaved person cannot chew on food that is in a portion to big for him to stomach. The rule of thumb is that if you are doing all the talking you are talking to much. If they are asking questions that are along the lines of what you are talking about then you can continue talking because that shows they are interested.

But, if they are asking questions that challenge your faith they are trying to evangelize you. Yes atheists do evangelize because it justifies their disbelief, Rule of thumb on this is if the person is remotely interested in what you have to say they won;t be trying to make you question what you believe. And there are many levels to this.
1) You have the militant atheist that will do this to watch you squirm. These are not generally reachable.
2) You have the atheist who does this just to try and protect and justify their belief in no God. These are reachable but you have to know the approach, Because once they run out of the challenge your faith questions, you have to know where to go from there because you have their attention.
3) Then you have the atheist that might put up a small barrage of questions but when pinned down they end up being interested.
4) Then you have the atheist that knows a lot about God, or is an x-Christian. These are the type that God deems as having chosen their destination because they know the truth but prefer the lie. What God does in these situations is that He gives them up to having a reprobate mind. Someone who has a reprobate mind cannot tell between right and wrong or truth from lies. they generally use there belief to mock God every chance they get. So God places this curse upon them for what they behave done. Basically saying: You want to believe a lie and use it to mock me, then you will always believe that lie and be damned for it.

You see there are some people who would prefer to go to Hell and will do anything to get there. Even when they know deep inside God exists they want nothing to do with that. So God gives these people up to being reprobates to give them what they want. How can you tell if you are wasting your time with a reprobate?
1) You can never make any headway with them.
2) They will equivocate (lie on purpose) to protect what they believe. In other words they know they are lying and they don't care.
3) A reprobate takes pleasure degrading anyone whom disagrees.
4) They hate anything or anyone that happens to stand for what's right or has any morals that cannot be fudged.
5) They will hate you because you stand for a standard they despise.
etc...

The only hope you have in reaching a person with a reprobate mind is to pray to have the reprobate curse lifted. And not talk to them anymore than you have to because once the curse is lifted they will actually search you out. Talking to them means you will have to endure verbal abuse. The thing is that you have to learn not to let it effect you. Doing so only reinforces what he is doing and he will continue. Ignoring it or bringing to light that this comment was uncalled for and you expect to be treated in the same manner you treat him will make them stop. If they don;t walk away. Because once a bad situation starts and they won;t stop it will only get worse. And if you believe in spiritual warfare you can also approach this from another prospective. When the person starts in on you, you can rebuke them in Jesus name. And do that every time they do it and that response will either make them be quite and nice or they will walk away.

With reprobates you have to make up your mind if they are worth the time that it will take you to reach them. Because the time that you spend with them you could also have spent that time with 3 other people who were interested in what you had to say. But the better side of all this is that the ones that are hardest to convert are usually the ones who turn out to be the most on fire for God. I think it has to do with them having to make such a huge 180 in there life once they realize what the truth is.

Also when you meet someone you have no idea how much they know, it is best not to just start in on them with a regular routine. Ask them a question that gives you a starting point. Like: Have you ever heard of Jesus? If they say yes then ask: What do you know about Him? You see knowledge is power, once you have a starting point you can continue instead of assuming what they know. And you will be surprised to find that some people have never heard of Christ. Which means you will be spending a huge amount of time explaining who Christ is and what he did for them. Others you will find when you ask the questions that all it is, is a matter of correction because who they got their info on Christ from was secular sources. And then others will surprise you on how much they do know but still don't believe.

The main reason you ask the questions is because you don;t want to be wasting your time or theirs talking about stuff they already know, or skipping stuff they should know because you assumed they did know. Rule of thumb, never assume anything.

Also you never know when a person approaches you or you approach them where they are at in being ready to accept Christ.
1) They may have had another Christian working on them for a while and you were just in the right place at the right time and they got saved because of that. There are many reasons for this.
2) They could have had something happen in their life that made them more aware of their mortality and therefore will be interested in what you have to say.
3) They may have had something really bad happen in their life and just need to know someone cares and will never leave them.

The basic rule of thumb is that because you don;t know it never hurts to ask if they are ready to accept Christ today and live eternally with Him in Heaven. And always remember they have the freewill choice to say yes or no. God would not have they any other way. So if they say no it's not a rejection of you or that you failed. It is because they are not ready to make such a big decision for their lives. And there can be many reasons for that. But because you tried you planted seeds. And this person maybe ready for the next Christian when the same question is asked and they accept Christ. But that would not have happened if you did not try and plant the seeds that you did,

The average unsaved person takes anywhere from 3-6 tries before they convert. There are some that defy that number but it's rare. But when a unsaved person approaches you, you never know where they are at on that scale. And you not trying won't get them closer. So even if they say no, you can always keep in mind that you effort made them one step closer.

Also when you are working with people that you have let know you are a Christian, they watch you. Which means to be the example you have to wear what you claim on your sleeve. You have to be the example to them for Christ. If you go along to get along they won;t respect you. Because when a unsaved person wants to convert he wants change, he does not want more of the same thing. You have to be the example of what that change is. Otherwise in their minds you will be labelled as a hypocrite for preaching against sin but yet doing it openly.

Speaking for myself, I'm an atheist and I feel compelled to argue with religious people not because I'm under some voodoo curse or lying to myself or to justify my beliefs or to "degrade" others (my best friend is christian and says she wouldn't have survived the abuse from her christian family without my friendship, I do not "degrade" people for being christian). I feel compelled to argue against christianity because it's used to deny people civil rights and promote hatred and intolerance and block medical research and introduce un-testable religious views into science classes. If it weren't for things like that (and many others) that annoy me about organized religion I would just ignore religious people.

I'm not trying to start an argument and if you want to debate any of those things please do so in one of the other forums - I'm just saying atheists are not the one-dimensional stereotypes the above commenter makes us out to be.

If I approached christians assuming every christian was either lying, deluded or insane (and ignored the fact that some just honestly don't agree with me) would I be able to build a constructive dialogue with them?

An atheist would have to be either stupid or desperately confused to talk to a christian for a long time who had that kind of contempt for them and not pick up on it.

Speaking for myself, I'm an atheist and I feel compelled to argue with religious people not because I'm under some voodoo curse or lying to myself or to justify my beliefs or to "degrade" others (my best friend is christian and says she wouldn't have survived the abuse from her christian family without my friendship, I do not "degrade" people for being christian). I feel compelled to argue against christianity because it's used to deny people civil rights and promote hatred and intolerance and block medical research and introduce un-testable religious views into science classes. If it weren't for things like that (and many others) that annoy me about organized religion I would just ignore religious people.

I'm not trying to start an argument and if you want to debate any of those things please do so in one of the other forums - I'm just saying atheists are not the one-dimensional stereotypes the above commenter makes us out to be.

If I approached christians assuming every christian was either lying, deluded or insane (and ignored the fact that some just honestly don't agree with me) would I be able to build a constructive dialogue with them?

An atheist would have to be either stupid or desperately confused to talk to a christian for a long time who had that kind of contempt for them and not pick up on it.

If your friends family was abusive chances are they aren't actually Christian

I would say the same of evolution in that it brings assumption-based pseudo-science into the class rooms which is far worse as it taints the how the student undertakes science... Not sure how Religion blocks medical research? Since research is done independantly in the private sector (also funded by the gov. but mainly the private sector), (that is what part of my degree is about)

The approaches to evangelism that I've seen here are not how I go about it. Personally, I believe that we evangelize out of the overflow of the love God has for us. I do not evangelize to "win souls", but rather because I feel so overwhelmed with love for the people around me that I want them to know the salvation of God. It has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I cannot imagine other people not having it. If you don't share the Gospel out of love, then I feel your heart is not in the right place.

In my life, I evangelize by building relationships. I make friends with those around me, regardless of what they may believe. I attempt to show them the type of love that God has shown me. Nine times out of ten, this makes them ask questions about what I believe. This starts the conversation on even ground. No one is forcing anything on anyone. They have simply noticed the joy and love I have in my life and are curious as to where it came from. I share it with them. Sometimes they are interested and eventually accept Christ, and sometimes they don't. But even if they don't, I still maintain our friendship, pray for them, and continue to live sacrificially. People are saved by God, not by me, so I do not assume that if they reject God when I know them that they will reject them for their entire life. My job is to love my neighbor as myself, regardless of their stance with God.

The approaches to evangelism that I've seen here are not how I go about it. Personally, I believe that we evangelize out of the overflow of the love God has for us. I do not evangelize to "win souls", but rather because I feel so overwhelmed with love for the people around me that I want them to know the salvation of God. It has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I cannot imagine other people not having it. If you don't share the Gospel out of love, then I feel your heart is not in the right place. In my life, I evangelize by building relationships. I make friends with those around me, regardless of what they may believe. I attempt to show them the type of love that God has shown me. Nine times out of ten, this makes them ask questions about what I believe. This starts the conversation on even ground. No one is forcing anything on anyone. They have simply noticed the joy and love I have in my life and are curious as to where it came from. I share it with them. Sometimes they are interested and eventually accept Christ, and sometimes they don't. But even if they don't, I still maintain our friendship, pray for them, and continue to live sacrificially. People are saved by God, not by me, so I do not assume that if they reject God when I know them that they will reject them for their entire life. My job is to love my neighbor as myself, regardless of their stance with God. That's my take on evangelism.

Great post however I would make one suggestion.

Ensure that you are building relationships for the sole purpose of having a relationship, do not do it just as a mode of evangelism, since that can be viewed as decietfu, (gaining ones trust for the sole purpose of convincing them to do something). Though I am sure you knew this already

Great post however I would make one suggestion. Ensure that you are building relationships for the sole purpose of having a relationship, do not do it just as a mode of evangelism, since that can be viewed as decietfu, (gaining ones trust for the sole purpose of convincing them to do something). Though I am sure you knew this already />

The approaches to evangelism that I've seen here are not how I go about it. Personally, I believe that we evangelize out of the overflow of the love God has for us. I do not evangelize to "win souls", but rather because I feel so overwhelmed with love for the people around me that I want them to know the salvation of God. It has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I cannot imagine other people not having it. If you don't share the Gospel out of love, then I feel your heart is not in the right place. In my life, I evangelize by building relationships. I make friends with those around me, regardless of what they may believe. I attempt to show them the type of love that God has shown me. Nine times out of ten, this makes them ask questions about what I believe. This starts the conversation on even ground. No one is forcing anything on anyone. They have simply noticed the joy and love I have in my life and are curious as to where it came from. I share it with them. Sometimes they are interested and eventually accept Christ, and sometimes they don't. But even if they don't, I still maintain our friendship, pray for them, and continue to live sacrificially. People are saved by God, not by me, so I do not assume that if they reject God when I know them that they will reject them for their entire life. My job is to love my neighbor as myself, regardless of their stance with God. That's my take on evangelism.

What if you can't be in a committed relationship with people? Can't you do both?

Could you elaborate on the circumstances a bit? I'm not sure I've run into that type of situation, personally. Also, what do you mean by "committed"?

Sure, I mean if you don't see them on a regular basis, or if the relationship doesn't grow - like acquantences... (Thats about all I feel safe to give.) I regret too that I did not see you had replied sooner -- I'll look for a follow/subscribe option for this thread (done).